Enchanted

Bibliography

Kontis, Alethea. Enchanted. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print.

Nilsen, Allen Pace, James Blasingame, Kenneth L. Donelson, and Don L. Nilsen. Literature for Today's Young Adults. 9th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2013. Print.

Summary

Sunday is one of the Woodcutter Sisters named for each day of the week. Each sibling has a magical power and what Sunday writes comes true. While writing one day, Sunday meets and becomes friends with an enchanted frog. Their feelings for each other become close enough that Sunday kisses the frog which transforms him back into a man. Unfortunately, this young man is part of a family that has been at odds with her family for a long time. Will she learn to love the man who was her dear friend?

Analysis

“Magic and monsters, all before breakfast. Sunday wouldn’t have it any other way” (Kontis 187).

Enchanted is a fun read full of satire and sarcasm. There are surprises sprinkled throughout as a family story slowly turns out to be a familiar fairy tale such as Jack and the Beanstalk or The Golden Goose.

Like many other YA novels, Enchanted is blurred between genres. It mostly falls in the fairy tale category, but could also fall under humor, romance, or even adventure. It is not told in the first person. However, it does have traditional YA traits such as doubt about his and her strength, personal growth throughout the story, a mean mother and loving father. This book also features a traditional fairy tale happy ending.

The writing is verbose. This novel could have been told in about half of the words. Although, the story may be a bit meandering, it may be to layer in the other fairy tales and magic.

Overall, I would recommend this book to a female YA reader because it has a clever combination of familiar fairy tales, romance, and light humor. It would be an ideal read for the summer or over a weekend.